Bedside Manner
by Pheep
Summary: When Kel wakes up one morning, she is confused about a lot of things. Fortunately, Dom is there for her, and will help in confusing her even more. A KD ficlet.


A/N: Behold! The first thing in a very long time that I completed in (just barely) under 24 hours! And during the same weekend as another fic! It's amazing, isn't it? I'm amazed. Wow.

I first thought of the concept for this at about 4am one night, and ended up scribbling bits of dialog for it down in a random notebook since my computer was already off XD Ahh, I am crazy. I wasn't really expecting to get it done any time soon, either, but I guess that life is just funny that way. Simply hilarious! Hahaha. Hah...

Don't let my rambling mislead you, though - This is a really just a random little bit of fluff, when things gets down to it. I still sort of like it, though, and I hope that my fellow K/D lovers will too. Enjoy.

+ + + 

**__**

Bedside Manner

+ + +

When Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan awoke early one morning, she had very little idea of where she was, or what was happening. The ceiling she was staring up at and the bed she was laying down in were unfamiliar to her, and when she sat up she felt a slight ache in her left arm; she glanced down at it, and her hazel eyes widened at a long, fresh scar that she was sure hadn't been there before. 

Kel looked around in confusion, beginning to panic, before realization entered her face. She sighed quietly, sinking back down under the sheets. She was in the same room that she had stayed in once before at Fort Steadfast, and the new scar was a souvenir from a skirmish with the Scanran raiders that she and her men had encountered on the way to attend Raoul and Buri's wedding celebration. 

But how long had she been asleep? She hadn't missed the wedding, had she? Mulling over these questions in her head, she rolled over onto her side, and was greeted by the rather handsome image of Sergeant Domitan of Masbolle slumped into a chair beside the bed, fast asleep. 

Sitting up again with a jolt, Kel stared at him for a few moments in shock, uncomprehending. What was going on? Why was Dom here? It made no sense whatsoever - falling asleep at someone's bedside...It sounded like something out of a romance novel. Something that Dom would never do for her, surely. 

Kel tried to ignore the sense of disappointment she felt upon telling herself this, but found that she couldn't while staring directly into the man's face. She looked away quickly, but the damage had been done, and now she was left to brew in it. It was true; she would have liked it if he really had done this for her with intentions other than those of a worried friend. For years now she had been putting her feelings for Dom as far behind her as possible, denying them, trying to force them to fade away into the past. It had never quite worked, though...and now that Cleon was no longer a part of her life, she had nothing to turn to to help her forget about them, besides her own looming sense of self doubt. But that was never very helpful. It only ended up depressing her.

Still, it was better than nothing. She looked back up at the sleeping Dom, and her self doubt told her firmly that if he hadn't stayed with her because he was wonderful and considerate - which wasn't all that unlike him, she knew - then he had stayed because he must have something very important to tell her. And _not_ that sort of something. With this in mind, she reached out and shook him lightly by the shoulder. "Dom."

Dom stirred, and his blue eyes blinked open drowsily. "Mmh..." his gaze moved from the hand on his shoulder to its owner, causing Kel to blush faintly and retract it, and his eyes suddenly widened. "Oh- Kel, listen--" he leaned forward in his chair, hands bracing his knees.

Kel raised her eyebrows. So she had been right. She leaned forward as well, watching him expectantly. "What is it?"

"Um- well, first off, I'm glad that you woke up. I- We- I was worried about you."

Kel blinked, tilting her head. He seemed nervous. That wasn't like him. And it was only the one cut in her arm, as far as she could tell... "You were?" she asked.

"Gods, yes - more than I had reason to be, I know, but- well, anyway...ahm...oh, how's your arm?" he asked suddenly, giving a vague gesture to the scarred arm with his hand. 

Kel furrowed her brow slightly, uncertain. He was clearly avoiding something. "It's all right...Dom, is something wrong?"

"No! No, nothing's wrong," he said quickly, shaking his head. "I just- well..." he sighed. "Listen, I was really worried about you," he told her bluntly. "Never mind why, I just was. So I stayed when they moved you here from the infirmary, and I started to think..."

He trailed off, and Kel frowned and touched his hand. "Go on," she said quietly.

Dom stared down at her hand wordlessly for a moment. He took a slow breath, and what he next came out in a rush. "That I might care about you as more than a friend. I mean, I probably wouldn't wait at the bedsides of any of my other friends for ten hours straight, you know, so..." his free hand stopped in mid-flourish, and he let it droop a second later. "...So. My poor rambling skills have completely failed me," he finished offhandedly, raising his eyebrows.

Kel's mind swam as she tried to think of an easy response to this. Realizing that there wasn't one, she felt herself blushing, and blushing deeper when he looked up into her eyes. "D...Dom....That's..."

She trailed off, and Dom shifted his hand and took hold of hers. "A good thing? To you?" he suggested hopefully.

A small, unaffected part of her mind noted that they were both slowly leaning in towards each other. She told that part to shut up, and answered, somewhat breathlessly, "...Yes...."

Dom muttered a quiet "good" the moment before their lips met. The kiss, one that Kel had secretly daydreamed of sometimes, was warm and gentle, and so unfathomably real that she felt herself yearning for another as soon as his mouth left hers. Dom blinked to clear some of the haziness from his eyes, and he gripped her hand like a treasure, his breathing ragged. "...You know...that conversation went a lot more smoothly when I was picturing it in my head..." he mumbled, sounding a little more like himself.

Kel smiled slightly and reached up, resting a hand back on his shoulder. "It's all right," she murmured softly, pulling him back to her. "They tend to."

+ + +

A/N: ...As I said, short, but fairly sweet. A pretty unremarkable piece if you ask me, but still cute enough, and I am proud of myself for holding off on being too wordy for once. Reviews will be welcomed with open arms ^^ Though flames will probably give those arms third degree burns...Which would give me full right to issue a lawsuit...But, anyway. Yeah. Love you all.

~Pheep


End file.
